Cable elevators

If you have synthetic rug flooring, then you should keep them off the floor. If you have natural wool, cotton or wood flooring, I wouldn't worry about it. Aside from that, you can make your own or buy something similar to what you see in the ads for a considerable savings. Use your imagination.

In my case, I have my speaker cable looped around a nail in the wall behind the speaker from which hangs a wool carpet (for sound absorption). Looks fine to me. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Empty toilet paper roll cardboard tube on end!

Nonoise thanks for your response. I am curious as to why you would not recommend elevating cables on a wood floor. Wouldn't vibrations be reduced and thereby improve sound?

Like nonoise I got great results from simply looping my Valhalla cable over a hook screwed into the wall behind my speakers. Obviously you can pay big $$ for the elevators nordost make (https://www.musicdirect.com/accessories/Nordost-Sort-Lift-Cable-Support ) but I would try a wall mount first, I found the sound opened up and became a little less confused

If no walls are handy you could try these ones

i found more impact from cable elevators (Shunyata) under my interconnects then under my current speaker cables (SR Galileo) but then again I do run a very long balanced cable. The design of the Shunyata DFSS is not well suited to Nordost cables

$600 wowzer man! I would think a number of designs would come to mind,

I've never found the least bit of difference with/without them.

Try the PVC "T"connectors found in the plumbing dept at Lowes. They are small, inconspicuous and easy to place in your room. Very cost effective and can be painted to blend into the room aesthetics. They are non conductive and do not resonate. A perfect solution!

 I am sure you can come up with many other alternatives just by walking through the store and scanning the shelves. Dowel rods, tee pees, copper conduit, plastic conduit, etc. Just get them off the floor and let them settle for a day or two before making a judgement.  Be creative and don’t be fooled that spending more makes an audible difference. 😉Good Luck! 

audiofool1, unless someone's playing basketball on your wooden floors, I don't see any problem. That, and anything you prop them up on will simply transmit the vibrations up to the cables, opening another can of worms. 

All the best,
Nonoise

Propping the cables up on "Isolators" would minimize the area of the cables exposed to seismic type vibration by quite a bit. Another technique that might be better is suspending the cables and cords from the ceiling with high test fishing line on eye hooks with a rubber band on one end of the fishing line.

You don't need to spend a bunch of money on elevators if you are just a little bit handy.  I made mine out of 2 1/2" poplar boards (4 pieces glued together and sanded) and then ran them through a table saw in the center to cut the slot for the ribbon cable.  See last picture on my system page.  I made a bunch of them for just the cost of the wood.

Wow. Great comments and ideas. I will experiment and see what seems to work best. Thanks to everyone so much for your input.

OP,  You may also look into elevators from Red Dragon Audio, I am using these to keep my flat cables above carpet to great effect. And they are quite inexpensive. 

https://www.reddragonaudio.com/collections/frontpage/products/esd-xl-cable-elevators

I have a set from Music Direct..so far the sonic value has been zero, they sit on carpet. My friends seem to get a good laugh out of it and like to remind me what a waste of money it was. I'm glad be to a source of inspiration for them.

It is possible that floor material (carpet, wood, vinyl) changes/adds to dielectric used in cable (that can affect the sound).  Energy flows from amplifier to the speaker on the outside of the cable.  I don't hear any difference but others might.

I want some so I can remove some slack from my speaker binding posts from these heavy Audioquest wel cables.

@maxboy00 ,  thank you for sharing your experience with elevators. That's what good friends for, they do keep it real :-)

IMO, tweaks are very much components or system dependent and above all user ability to discern any improvements - good or bad. 

From my experience, carpets is the worst kind of flooring as they causes static interference which leads to signal degradation. Plus elevators keep your cables in pristine shape and in some cases enhances the overall look of your rig.  

Funny this should appear today. I just finished building my own this morning. Have gone the toilet paper route, but whole roll, not just tube. One of the best isolation there is. But looks weird. So I bought enough length of maple 1 x 2s, had them cut 6" and 3" length and crazy gel glued them in T form, strung my cables, now 7" off carpet, put 1 1/4" maple edge grain cutting board under each speaker. An injection of fluidity and liveliness, slighter brightness and warmth, and most of all the incredible new solidity and bass depth was stunning. This all cost $23 for the wood from Home Depot and $45 apiece for the cutting boards from Amazon. Most elevators commercially sold charge $100  that for just 1 to 3 elevators. I got 16 from my $23... You should get them off the floor whether carpet, cement or wood. Free from static and electromagnetic field. The difference was akin to a $10,000 upgrade.

Don't forget to put a pyramid on top of your CD player to funnel the energy of the universe into it ; )

My pyramid has crystals in it from a meteor recovered at a depth of 420 feet.

Does anyone ever wonder why the top studios in the world, that record the artists/material we all love so much never use such "black magic" devices?  

I use bricks from home depot.

I find that climbing up on the roof wearing a tin foil hat and quacking like a duck while flapping my arms, also works.

I found ceramic electric isolators at a garage sale (4 for $5). Look exactly like the cable elevators:  https://www.reddragonaudio.com/collections/cable-elevators/products/cable-elevators 

Have lots of children hold them up during your listening sessions. Just make sure you have an even number to equalize both sides of your system. Make your own or borrow the neighborhood kids. I have found that girls holding the cable makes for a better musical presentation. Boys and good for rock and some Miles Davis recordings from the seventies.

Can anybody see the flashing lights ahead? It's the approaching train wreck! This thread has vered into!

Is there any relationship in improved SQ by getting the speaker cable off the floor and using high end amp fuses at the same time? 

They can easily be made for nothing. Why not try it, one may like it?

Mechanical and electrical isolation makes some sense.  Clearly you needn't spend a fortune on it, unless you really feel an insatiable need to.

Nordost Sort Lift

I'm usually a skeptic, but I can see that static electricity in carpet, the same they builds up from walking on it and shocks you when you touch a light switch, could possibly have some effect. As far as vibrations, that I do not buy. These aren't guitar pickups, they are straight lengths of 12 gauge wire! But I agree with the most of contributors here, go cheap. I fail to see how big money could have any effect on cable supports. Glass and ceramic carry static electricity on the outside, so do many plastics, remember the plastic comb trick? And balloons making one's hair stand up? Wood sounds like the best option. Here's an idea! Buy telephone poles made for model railroads! That would look awesome! 

PS - I wish there was a "Like", button on these comments! 

Ah, but what about cable escalators?  Anyone ever try them?

" but I can see that static electricity in carpet, the same they builds up from walking on it and shocks you when you touch a light switch, could possibly have some effect."

could possibly is not the same as "does"

the problem is that most audiophiles don't understand electronics, much less how equipment is designed

escalators - yes!!

WOW! I am really jealous of your guys’s hearing abilities.

I have tried elevating my nordost ribbon cables as well,  about three inches above my cheap carpet non-coiled and I hear zero difference.

But like another poster I leave them there to amuse visitors and it’s a conversation starter.

I might try some of the ideas mentioned here for Aesthetics, but no way would I actually pay for something I can’t hear. And I’m 43 with good hearing! LOL

Try the thick black foam that is used to insulate 3/4" or 1" copper pipes. The stuff I get is usually ~ 1 1/4" to 1 1/2" thick, so the OD of the insulation is about 3 1/2" to 4". I cut it to the length / height I want and viola, instant cable elevators.
Not nearly as nice as the ESD Cable Elevators (which I also have) but for a few dollars - they can't be beat!

I recently made some from a long 3" x 3" Elm plank. cut V groves along the length, then cut the thing into 3" blocks. I hear absolutely no difference, but they really do tidy things up nicely, and for that alone, it was worth the effort.

For less than $2 a piece I use ceramic light sockets with the terminals removed. 

Thanks to everyone that responded and provided some good comments, ideas and a few laughs! Much appreciated. When all is said and done, I will probably end up either making them myself primarily to make the cables look neat; whether or not it has any effect on the sound. Cheers

I think I've said it elsewhere in one of the forums, but it's worth repeating.  
Try granola bars, original oats & honey in the green box work best, with 1/2" layers of Jif peanut butter in between, 6 pieces high placed perpendicular underneath the speaker wire every 24".  If you don't hear a difference go to 20" apart and then if still no difference, go in 2" increments until the sound just blooms with clarity.  When you hit the right point, you will know it, it will hit you like a ton of bricks - the sound will just open up 3 dimensionally.  It's kind of like setting up a Vandersteen speaker or planars/electrostatic speakers.   The speaker/speaker wire connection seems to dictate how far apart the granola bar/PB spkr wire lift has to be.  Generally, I've noticed bookshelf speakers can use less granola but floor standers need more granola.  

This is the most amazing tweak ever!   

In general, you should not spend a lot of time rubbing your cables on a wool carpet.

If you think a significant static charge will accumulate from the cables simply sitting on the carpet... uhmm.. static sitting... then there is a problem and it is not in your cables.

As a fun test, why not see if the SQ  is affected when a Defibrillator is hooked up to the outside of the cables?

or shoot a Taser at them while listening.

What would wrapping the cables with the metal foil of your choosing.   I would use copper if I can find it and then seal it with a plastic wrap called "Press and Seal".  That should keep out stray noises.

@audiofool1  - Red Dragon Audio running a sale on cable elevators designed for ribbon/flat cables. You can get 10 elevators for $139.99 plus free shipping. 

Cheers! 

Otis makes good elevators